The Girl on the Stairs, Louise Welsh
The Girl on the Stairs, Louise Welsh
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The Girl on the Stairs
A Masterful Psychological Thriller

Author: Louise Welsh

Narrator: Jane Wymark

Unabridged: 7 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: John Murray

Published: 08/02/2012

Synopsis

Jane Logan is six months pregnant and has moved to Berlin to live with her long-term lover, rich banker, Petra. The women's chic new apartment is in a trendy part of the city but Jane finds herself increasingly uneasy there. She conceives a dread of the derelict backhouse across the courtyard and begins to suspect something sinister is happening in the flat next door, where gynaecologist Alban Mann lives with his teenage daughter Anna. Petra believes her lover's pregnancy is affecting her judgement, but Jane is increasingly convinced that all is not well. Her decision to turn detective has devastating results when her own past collides with the past of the building and its inhabitants.

A haunting, atmospheric novel from the acclaimed author of The Cutting Room.

About Louise Welsh

Louise Welsh is the author of eight novels including The Cutting Room, A Lovely Way to Burn and Death is a Welcome Guest. She has received numerous awards and international fellowships, including an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Edinburgh Napier University and an honorary fellowship from the University of Iowa's International Writing Program. Louise Welsh is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Blair on February 25, 2017

Set in contemporary Berlin - a city alive with history like no other - The Girl on the Stairs is the story of Jane, heavily pregnant and new to the city, where she has come to live with her German partner Petra. Lonely and paranoid from the moment of her arrival, Jane's state of mind is exacerbated......more

Goodreads review by Patrick on June 11, 2014

If characters did the rational thing, fiction would consist solely of war novels and heroic fantasy. "Don't do it!" you shout as Macbeth approaches Duncan's bedchamber or Peter Rabbit scrambles into Mr MacGregor's garden. 'The Girl On The Stairs' is a psychological mystery in which Jane gradually des......more

Goodreads review by Tess on June 03, 2014

Sadly, I was really disappointed by this book. I loved The Cutting Room and enjoyed The Bullet Trick, so was looking forward to this with bated breath. But for me at least, it failed to live up to expectations. The book was well-written with some nice descriptions of Berlin and a great slice of clau......more

Goodreads review by Kirsty on January 15, 2017

LOVED THIS. Review forthcoming in Gutter magazine.......more

Goodreads review by Tara on October 21, 2012

I hate when you are really looking forward to reading a book and then it ends up been a big disappointment. How can I describe this book best? A psychological thriller that was very confusing & I mean very confusing, even at the end I was still wondering !!!! I had figured out most of it before the......more

Quotes

Louise Welsh's taut new novel at times feels like a potent cross between The Yellow Wallpaper and Rear Window . . . Welsh expertly conveys the escalation of Jane's suspicions to something approaching obsession Observer

'An impressive psychological chiller' Sunday Telegraph

'Sharply rendered . . . The reader's anxiety is heightened by a myriad of small tensions . . . Welsh keeps the reader turning to pursue the multiple stories threading through the pages . . . The writing of crime fiction is, after all, a sort of conjuring trick played on the reader, a welcome deception. Welsh has developed flashing fingers with cards, rabbits and hats' Independent

Builds up atmosphere admirably Sunday Times

Brilliantly atmospheric, the tension builds until you are chilled to the core Good Housekeeping

A taut narrative that plays with our sense of what's real. Brilliant Red

'A stylish and violent Berlin-set thriller' Guardian

'The Girl on the Stairs feels like a ghost story. Taking place in a haunted city, the book's knowing evocation of Don't Look Now, Du Maurier's Venice-set story, is sharpened by the fact that this mother is not grieving the loss of a child but anticipating a birth. Yet what Welsh knows, and brings to a bloody conclusion, is that no supernatural manifestation of our darkest hours is any match for what real human beings can do to each other' Guardian

'An outstanding work of psychological suspense that will thrill Welsh's existing fans and earn her many more' Daily Record

'A portrait of a city haunted by its past, with nods to Don't Look Now and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, it's a profoundly creepy read' Guardian Books of the Year 2012

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